12/29/2009 @ 6:00AM

Sramana Mitra On Entrepreneurship And Leadership

Unemployment. Over 30 million people are unemployed in America. The American spirit, the American way of life–entrepreneurial, hard-working, path breaking–stands battered. 2010 and the decade ahead will be singularly colored by this phenomenon.

The Unconventional Wisdom

This hardship is a good thing. America has become complacent. Mediocrity, with minimum effort, has too comfortable a life. Entitlement and Affluenza have corrupted a culture that once attracted the world’s envy. These tumultuous times will bring out effort and zeal from people again. The American spirit has been called to action.

The Misplaced Assumption

Capitalism will face a challenge from the left. It will–not from weak alternatives like socialism and communism, but from within. The entrepreneurs–the value creators–are fed up with the looters who are speculating their way to billions while bringing the system to its knees. Capitalism, this time, faces opposition from its greatest proponents. It will, eventually, morph into a more just system.

The Watch List

Barack Obama and team:

–The multitrillion-dollar U.S. deficit can be systematically reduced by taxing the speculator class to the hilt while offering massive incentives for the entrepreneurs.

–The shocks to the global financial system can be contained by requiring much higher capital reserves at banks. This also means banker compensation goes down dramatically.

–Overall, the crisis of the American financial system is fixable. Does Obama have the insight to understand what needs to be done, and then the courage to execute, or is his worldview colored by former Wall Streeters and their cronies?

The Bold Prediction

A triumphant return of the entrepreneurial spirit as the central theme, not only in America but around the world. Over the next decade, India will make great strides in this dimension, as will China, and America will regain its energy as an innovation nation. It will need work from all of us–media, educators and practitioners, but I believe we can build back a world that is strong, sustainable and fair, unlike the current one.

Sramana Mitra is a technology entrepreneur and strategy consultant in Silicon Valley, and a columnist for Forbes.com.

What do you see coming in 2010? Give us your predictions on this topic by commenting below.